Thursday, January 17, 2008

So ages, AGES ago Jen in Michigan gave me and 9 other folks the above award for participating in her first ever writing game.

She awarded me because

SMID took Anno's ideas and turned them into a lovely story about an artist breaking away from a difficult mother in "Be True".

Guess what? Jen is hosting her game again. It is a wonderful chance to flex your writing muscles. You send her a set of ideas (based on her simple guidelines) then she sends you someone else's ideas. You have to write a story based on that person's ideas.

I plan to play along again (you have until Friday, January 18th to sign up so please join in). In addition, I need to pass along this lovely, neon lion. One task from receiving this award is sharing the three things I believe are necessary for good, powerful writing and then pass the award on to bloggers I want to honor. They in turn should pass it on to others if they want in addition to sharing what they think is important for good writing (but only if they want to).

Three qualities I believe are important for good, powerful writing:

Consise - I once had a boss who told me to cut a third of what I wrote while editing. Then cut another third. It is painful but I cannot stress how important it is to be brief.

Purpose - Writing should have a point. A clear, consise point.

Emotion - I have been struck by how some posts have either moved me to tears or caused me to laugh out loud. Conveying sadness without being sappy or humor without being cute is a real skill.

So I'm passing along this award to the following folks for their writing. I am a better writer because I learn from them.

Congrats on your receiving this well-deserved award. And I second all your choices to send it on. I had a great time participating this past fall, and I'm looking forward to playing again. Glad you wrote about it and are encouraging others to play! The more the merrier.